What would cause Parse.ly to show different numbers than other analytics tools?

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There are a number of different ways that Parse.ly can be implemented onto your site to track content. Depending on the implementation method you chose, you may see more than a 7% discrepancy between Parse.ly and another analytics tool you are using. Below outlines the main reasons you would see this difference and how you can change your implementation to improve tracking continuity with your other tools.

Tracking Mobile Versions of your Site

If you have a mobile version of your site (i.e. m.yoursite.com or yoursite.mobile) it is strongly encouraged and recommended to include Parse.ly’s tracking code via our Mobile SDK.  Depending on what percentage of your readers visit your site on their mobile device, this could account for a very large discrepancy. Make sure to verify this integration via our validator.

Tracking Slideshows or Multipage Articles

Another reason that you may see a noticeable difference between Parse.ly and another analytics tool could be the result of how you track slideshows or multipage articles. If you are counting a page view for each slide or additional page of the article with one tool but not the other the results will differ significantly. Parse.ly by default only attributes one page view to a post.  If you would like to track each slide or each page of a post as a page view, you can visit our page on dynamic tracking. Simply add that line of code and a page view for each slide or additional page will be counted.

Additional Reasons

There are a collection of rare situations that could cause a discrepancy between Parse.ly’s metrics and another tool. Should you find that the above two reasons do not account for the discrepancy, please file a ticket with our support team by emailing them at support@parsely.com and we will promptly investigate the issue. Before you do so, it is extremely helpful for you to verify the metrics you are comparing and provide sample data to our team.